When most people hear the word "recycle," they think of bottles
and cans.

Ralph McCall thinks of bricks and concrete. And he can cite the
former Sauk County Health Care Center building as an example.

As senior project manager with WasteCap Resource Solutions,
McCall is part of a growing movement to recycle old buildings. His
Milwaukee-based nonprofit helps businesses and governments develop
waste reduction plans.

"More and more constituents are expecting their governments to
recycle and do what's best for the environment," McCall said. "It
(also) saves local governments money to do it this way."

Sauk County hired WasteCap to oversee the recycling of material
from its decommissioned nursing home on Highway CH.

The facility was demolished over a five-month period ending in
late October. Many items were reused in the new, $12.56 million
Sauk County Health Care Center, constructed by the county in the
city of Reedsburg.

WasteCap reported that almost 93 percent of the material from 11
buildings at the rural Reedsburg site was separated and
distributed. That's almost 4,000 tons of concrete, brick, metal,
and wood that soon will be used for other purposes.

McCall said recycling projects like the one commissioned by Sauk
County are becoming a necessity.

Almost a third of the solid waste that enters municipal
landfills nationwide each year is construction-related, according
to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. That amounts to
millions of tons of trash - some of which is burned in
incinerators, causing significant greenhouse gas emissions.

Sauk County contracted with Dirty Ducts Cleaning, Environmental
and Insulation of Madison to demolish the buildings for about
$580,000. WasteCap was hired to facilitate and document the
recycling project.

Although subcontractors were allowed to keep the earnings from
the material they sold, the massive recycling effort allowed the
county to save in other ways, said Tim Stieve, the county's
building services administrator.

More than a third of the 2,600 tons of salvaged concrete remains
on site. It will be crushed and reused by the Sauk County Highway
Department.

The demolished material wasn't the only thing recycled from the
old facility.

The county took in roughly $45,000 by auctioning off items such
as freezers, refrigerators, and generators from the old nursing
home, Stieve said.

Some citizens and local businesses also benefited from the
recycling project. Nearby farmers used brick as fill on their
properties, McCall said.

A subcontractor sold 485 tons of metal to a Wonewoc firm, Runick
Metal Recycling Inc., which processed the material and sold it to a
foundry.

Runick Metal purchased window frames and aluminum siding, as
well as large steel poles, called rebar, that reinforced the
concrete at the old nursing home.

"They were very diligent about getting all of the metals out of
the building," said Runick Metal Recycling Vice President Eric
Fink. "Getting rebar out of the concrete is no easy task."